Even Under Abu Mazen...

Another major Palestinian Authority arms-smuggling ship was discovered yesterday - manned by a Hizbullah terrorist. Israel Navy commandos, in a special operation, captured the ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

First Publish: 5/22/2003, 6:27 PM

Another major Palestinian Authority arms-smuggling ship was discovered yesterday. Israel Navy commandos, in a special operation, captured the ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea - west of northern Israel - on its way from Lebanon to Gaza. Of the eight seamen aboard, apparently only two knew that the ship was carrying a load of arms and weapons: the captain and a Hizbullah terrorist named Hamad Abu-Amara. Computer disks with instructions on how to construct explosives and details on intended attacks were also found aboard.

Israeli security sources said that PA figures such as Adal Mugrabi, who is responsible for smuggling arms to the PA, and Fathi Razam, deputy commander of the Gaza naval police, were involved in the smuggling attempt.

The IDF announced afterwards that it and other Israeli security forces have recently been required to deal with a great increase in terror activity from the sea - including attempts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, terrorist attempts to infiltrate from the sea, and attempts to attack Israeli vessels.